The Last Female Uchiha
by pancakes21
Summary: This is the world of Naruto, beginning when Sasuke met "Tobi" after Sasuke vs Itachi. Apparently, the reanimated Madara (he was reanimated early, will explain later) was convincing another Uchiha to join them at the same time... OC.
1. The Last Female Uchiha

Madara was leaning on an oak, staring at a girl, no more than fifteen. No doubt about it, she was definitely an Uchiha. He had been on his way to terrorize a village when he saw this interesting sight. She was stumbling alone on some forest path, nervous and twitchy.

_Did Obito and Itachi really leave behind another Uchiha?_ He thought. She looked too skinny and weak to be of any use to him. When he got back he would definitely scold Obito for failing to kill this last one. Perhaps it would be a little better if she actually seemed like a competent shinobi, but it was apparent that if kept alive, this girl would only humiliate the Uchiha name. He was about to step forward to finish off the small Uchiha when he sensed three shinobi coming from the west. _They should be powerful enough to finish her off for me._ He decided to take a quick break from his mission to watch the scene unfold.

But the battle was too painful to watch. Not sensing that the shinobi were behind her until too late, she ended up taking a kunai to the knee. Madara decided to leave._ Why on earth would fate bring me here, to the last female Uchiha, just to watch her die? Maybe when my Eye of the Moon project is complete, I will turn her into a worthy Uchiha._

Before he could take one step however, he could sense an enormous flow of chakra coming from behind him. It was pushing stones and uprooting trees, and Madara had to anchor himself by sending his own chakra to his feet. Staring up at him, above the canopies, was a perfect Susanoo.

_You've got to be kidding me_, he thought as he jumped out of the way of one of its powerful attacks. Madara readied his mangekyo sharingan for his own Susanoo, hoping that the girl would get caught off guard by seeing her own attack being used against her, but for some reason was unable to materialize it. _Dam it._

Luckily for him though, the girl's Susanoo stopped its rampage as soon as the three shinobi chakras disappeared. Did he go undetected?

No.

"Madara Uchiha!" boomed a loud, deep voice which echoed throughout the whole forest. _Was it coming from the Susanoo? _"I never expected to see you here," said the voice again, and the Susanoo lowered its mighty head to Madara's position in the trees.

"Who is speaking to me?" Madara asked, arms folded. He had seen many things in his life time, and even in death, but he had never heard of a talking Susanoo, and he would not be taken for a fool.

"It is I," yelled the giant head, grinning in front of him, "The god Susanoo."

Madara squinted his eyes. _The god Susanoo? Was there such thing? _But it continued talking. "I am Susanoo who came to the first Uchiha that was able to activate the mangekyo sharingan. I signed a contract with the man, lending him and any other Uchiha who was as powerful as him, some of my powers. The only condition is that the Uchiha bloodline be kept alive and kept pure."

_That's a weird condition, _thought Madara, but he didn't interrupt.

" Seeing as there are only three of you left now, because Itachi just died and you are dead anyway so you don't count, I have come to guard this girl to make sure she survives long enough to bear children. Since you are here, you are to help me protect her."

Thinking hard, Madara realized it would be best to go along with the Susanoo's demands. Although he might be able to keep going and realize his eye of the moon plan without the power to materialize his own Susanoo, it would be a lot easier to do so with it on his side.

"I am willing to accept Susanoo," he said to the deep green chakra. "And I won't just protect her, but I propose that I will help her to find a suitable partner. But only if you do something for me in return."

The Susanoo starred back at the legendary Uchiha.

"I will help if you if you give me your full powers."

It was the Susanoo's turn to squint his eyes. He did not trust this Uchiha, and didn't know what the man could be plotting.

"My guess is that you've bound some of your chakra to this girl," continued Madara. "And when you sense that she is in danger, you come to her aid. But that takes a toll on her doesn't it?" he asked, pointing to the little patch of grass at the base of the Susanoo where she was, crumpled into a heap and unconscious. "If you lend me access to your powers, I'll be able to protect her and you won't have to be bothered to come and save her yourself."

The Susanoo nodded and acknowledged that it was very taxing on both him and the girl for him to summon himself from the spirit world every time she needed help. It would be much easier to divide up a portion of his powers and allot it to a skilled shinobi instead.

"Very well," consented the Susanoo. "But if I find out that this girl has been hurt in any way, or that you are not protecting her properly, I will revoke my powers from you. Forever."

Seemingly not phased by this, Madara nodded and said, "It's a deal then."

Besides, how hard could babysitting a brat be?


	2. Madara Meets Zuri Uchiha

"Please don't leave me," said Zuri Uchiha, standing in a place somewhere deep within her soul. Zuri had been alone most of her life. She was told that her mother had died during child birth, and shortly after her father had whisked them both away to live in the mountains, away from the craziness of the city life – or so the story went. But she knew the real reason for the move was because of her father's poor health.

She didn't mind her living situation though. She loved the mountains and the forests, and she loved her father. But unfortunately his health had gotten worse, and he died when Zuri was seven, leaving her on her own. And yet she was never really alone. Since her father's passing, Susanoo had began to appear to her, telling her he was stepping in as her protector, and over time he had become like a father to her.

Susanoo looked tenderly at the girl and said, "I'm only removing my chakra from you, but I'm not really leaving you. If you ever need me just call my name and I will be there." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm not abandoning you. In fact I'm giving you something better; a relative of yours to be your guard. He'll be better for you because he won't leave your body in pain every time he comes to your aid like I do."

"It doesn't bother me that much," she said, bitterly remembering the feeling of pain in every cell of her body after Susanoo leaves her. "A relative though?" Zuri asked curiously. When he was alive, her father would tell her stories of her family back home and she had always thought that they would be interesting to meet one day.

"Yes, a relative."

"Is he nice?"

Susanoo paused, then said, "Well, you'll meet him for yourself soon enough. I have to leave now though. Remember, if anything at all happens to you, call me." He leaned in to kiss her on the forehead and whisper a warning into her ear before dissipating.

Zuri choked back a tear before floating back to the surface of consciousness.

She was laying in an open field and sweat was dripping down her face as the pain in her left knee came to her full realization, along with the pain from having the Susanoo use her body. Reaching down she yanked the kunai out and began putting pressure on it. She had little time to tend to her wound however, before a large man commanded her attention. What was the most shocking was that the man in front of her was a spitting image of her father, albeit a lot more muscular and taller.

"It's just a flesh wound, you'll survive," he diagnosed, and extended a hand to help her up.

"Th-thank you," Zuri stuttered out eventually. "A-are you my relative?" she asked excitedly. Since her father's passing she had never really talked to anybody except for Susanoo, so she didn't really know any proper ways to go about talking to people. Luckily her conversation parter didn't seem to enjoy chatting anyway.

"Yes, I am Madara Uchiha."

"Madara, hn," she repeated. "I don't think I remember my father telling me about you."

"I don't care if you've heard of me or not, but soon everyone will."

"You look like my father," she told him, examining his face more closely. "Except your eyes. I've never seen eyes like yours before."

"It's complicated," he responded shortly, knowing she was talking about the reanimation jutsu and brushing her off.

"So are you like my uncle?"

"I'm pretty sure I'm not your uncle."

"But I can think of you as an uncle?"

"No. And you should know that nobody likes a woman who asks too many questions," he said, getting irritated already. "I'm sure the Susanoo has told you that you are under my care from now on. I'm traveling to the town close by here on a mission. You can accompany me, just don't get in the way." With that, the man turned around and began to walk away.

"W-wait!" she called after him, holding her still bleeding knee and hobbling as fast as she could. "What about my stuff? Don't you want to know more about me? You don't even know my name! How did you even get here?"

"I'm in a hurry, we can get your things after my mission. No. I don't care. And I told you I was passing through here on a mission, and I just happened to see you on the path."

"Well my name is Zuri," she said, ignoring his rudeness and still happily following along behind him through the forest. "You remind me of the stories my dad used to tell me of his big brother. My dad said he was bigger than him and would always say mean things. But maybe instead of my uncle, you could by like MY big brother. I've always wanted a sister, but you'll do. Can I think of you as a big brother?"

Not being able to take the girl's yapping any longer, Madara spun around to face her, ready to back hand her, when the Susanoo's words echoed in his ear...

_"But if I find out that this girl has been hurt in any way, or that you are not protecting her properly, I will revoke my powers from you. Forever."_

Managing to control himself, he placed his arm back at his side. He looked at the girl staring up at him and had to remind himself that she was probably just lonely. From what it sounded like, her father had died and she was living alone, probably with only the Susanoo for company. Just like every other Uchiha, just like every other shinobi, just like everybody else in the whole dam world, she was suffering. When his Eye of the Moon project was done, he would not only make her a competent Uchiha, but he would also have to bring back her father.

"Listen," he finally said. "You can think of me however you like, but right now, I need to concentrate. Please don't speak to me until my mission is complete."


	3. The Hideout

**Hey y'all! I'm new at this, so thanks for the reviews! They are much appreciated and I will try to make you all happy ;)**  
**I tried to make this one longer (although it's a bit slow), so enjoy!**

Zuri had been pacing back and forth for what felt like hours now, waiting for Madara to return. He had told her to wait for him on top of a large hill and that his business wouldn't take long. Deciding that she had waited long enough however, she abandoned the hill to follow after him. Unfortunately on the way down, she had slipped and fell the last few feet off the cliff. Now with an even more throbbing pain in her knee, she also felt a burning sensation across her forehead. Wiping her brow, she realized she was bleeding.

Not wanting to waste time, she hurried along in the direction she thought the town was in. She had only ever seen it once before in passing, when she was with her father one day, but she had never actually visited the town. After a few miles of walking she began to sense that something was wrong. Walking a little further still she began to have the feeling that something terrible was happening. Now trying to do a half-run while limping, she began to see the town in the distance, with smoke and flames coming from it.

"SUSANO-" she began to scream in fright, hoping to summon her long time friend to help her, but she was caught off guard when an angry-looking Madara stepped out in front of her.

"What are you doing here? I told you to stay on the hill," he grumbled.

"I-I could sense that something was wrong so I rushed over here," she half-lied. "I thought something had happened to you!" At these words she heard Madara make a noise that she never thought she would hear come out of his mouth; laughter.

"Why would that Susanoo choose me as a guardian over you if I would die that easily? It would take more than a town of civilians to stop me," he finished plainly.

"The people... in the town... are they ok?" she asked, sensing what she thought was death coming from the village. "I think something terrible happened, did somebody die?"

Madara stared at the girl for a little bit, wondering if she was being serious or not. Who cared about weak civilians? "Yes many died, that is the world of shinobi. Sometimes deaths must happen for the greater good," he told her. "Don't think to much about them, they are only a thing of the past now," he said as her eyes began to tear up. He greatly despised crying women. "Besides, they are probably happier now anyway, put out of their suffering."

"S-suffering?" she asked, trying to control her tears.

"Yes suffering," he responded. "This world is full of suffering. But I plan to put an end to it one day."

"You are going to end suffering?" she asked him, beginning to admire the man.

"Of course, and that day is soon, preparations are being made as we speak. For this to happen however, some people must die."

Zuri thought of this for a moment. She had never heard of such philosophies before, and it confused her slightly. But if Susanoo would trust Madara with her life, than she would have to trust that he means well also. Besides, why would somebody who she considers her big brother lie to her? Taking one last look at the empty village through the trees, she turned her back on it and led Madara to her living quarters.

…

Madara rolled his eyes at the young Uchiha girl as she fell going into the compound. From the moment he met her, all she had been doing was getting herself hurt, and he could feel the Susanoo's chakra rustling around unhappily inside him. First her knee cap nearly gets speared off, then she falls on it and hits her head, she tripped over herself multiple times getting her backpack together in her tiny excuse for a cabin, and now she fell trying to get into his and Obito's lair. He would have to do something about her clumsiness.

He led the girl down a dark, candle lit corridor into the chamber she would be staying in. Opening up the creaking door, he lit the lamp and announced that this is where she would be staying.

She glanced around the huge, dank room, not knowing what to make of it. There was a bed in one corner, and what looked like work out equipment scattered about.

"Are you going to be training me for something big brother?" she asked, getting excited. If this man was a shinobi, he obviously would know some cool jutsu.

Madara rolled his eyes again. He didn't like it when she called him big brother, but if he said something about it she would just call him something even more embarrassing. "Training? You want to be a shinobi?"

"Yes! That would.. that would be so awesome!" she squealed.

"Well at least you have some sort of drive to do something with yourself," Madara sneered. "I'm a busy man, but I'll send someone to watch over your training. How about that?"

"Who?" Zuri asked curiously.

"His name is Zetsu. He'll be with you shortly," he said curtly and then shut and locked the door behind him.

He made his way down the corridors to the chamber he knew Obito would be waiting in. When he sensed his comrade's chakra in the room, he opened up the door.

"That mission took you longer than expected, did those civilians give you a rough time?" joked the masked Obito Uchiha.

Madara ignored his friend's comment and said, "I found something interesting in the forest on the way there."

"Oh?"

"A girl named Zuri Uchiha. You were slacking Obito. You told me you killed them all minus Sasuke."

"You're kidding."

"She's in chamber 37 as we speak. Which reminds me. Zetsu!" he called out, and immediately a white clone appeared and bowed respectfully.

"There is a girl here. Go make sure she doesn't kill herself. And don't give away anything at all," Madara commanded the white Zetsu.

"A girl? This will get interesting..." replied Zetsu as he disappeared into the floor.

"So I found this Uchiha," Madara began the story of how he met Zuri, and about the Susanoo's deal.

"Hn," was Obito's response after his comrade was done. "And you are sure she is an Uchiha?" he asked, still unable to believe it.

"Yes. Everything about her gives it away. Her hair, her facial structure, and the eyes."

"Well shoot..."

"But my mission was successful," stated Madara, changing the subject. "I retrieved the cells Kabuto wanted." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a heavy sack, dropping it onto the table. "How was your mission?"

"Perfect. Turns out the young boy Sasuke is easy to manipulate. I already have him wrapped around my finger. In fact, he's off to capture the eight tails right now."

Madara turned up his nose. "You think that boy can do it?"

"Whether he can or not doesn't concern me; we'll get the beast eventually. I just want to test out his powers."

"Tell me when he comes back," said Madara bluntly before walking out of the room.

"Don't tell me you are going to play matchmaker?" teased Obito after him, but he was only ignored.

…

Zuri screamed as the half-melted, pale man appeared in front of her. "Are you ok?" she said frantically and she ran up to make sure he was alright. The half-man only chuckled.

"I should be the one concerned about you! Look at you! You're a bloody mess!" Zetsu said to the bruised up girl drenched in sweat and blood. "What did Madara do to you?" he asked jokingly.

"Oh, I just, I'm kind of clumsy," she said quickly, realizing that this was the man that her big brother must have been talking about. "But I swear I'm a hard worker and a fast learner!"

"Of course you are! You're an Uchiha after all," he said, trying to flatter her. He didn't really know how to talk to girls, but he knew they liked compliments.

"So my big brother sent you to train me? Are you really up for it? In your... condition?"

Zetsu laughed again, "This is just the way I look. But yeah, I guess I'll help you train."

Zuri didn't know how to handle the man. She had never seen somebody so white before, but she decided to roll with it.

"How far can you run?" he asked her.

"Run?" she asked, as if Zetsu had said something offensive.

"Yeah, run. The thing you do when you move your legs back and forth real fast."

"I know what running is!"

"How far can you do it?"

"I don't know. I guess I never really tried to find out."

Zetsu sighed. This child would need a lot of work.

…

About an hour later, once Zuri had passed our from exhaustion, Zetsu decided to leave her to find Madara. He materialized before him.

"Hi big brother Madara," Zetsu teased.

Madara stood up and stared angrily at the white clone. "Nobody calls me that except for the girl!" he growled.

Zetsu raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Don't tell me you are getting a soft spot for her?"

Madara rolled his eyes. "Of course not. If a shinobi god came to me and told me not to hurt you, I might listen too."

"Is that all it takes?" Zetsu smiled.

"Have you only come here to bother me?" he sighed.

"No, I came here to tell you that the girl won't stop calling for you. She finally shut up, but she's bound to awaken sooner or later."

"I can never get a break around here," said Madara, folding his arms across his chest, but he followed the clone out to the girl's chamber.

He had arrived just in time for her to wake up from her nap, and she could not have been more overjoyed to see him.

"Big brother! You're here to help me practice ninjutsu!"

"Am I? What, is Zetsu not good enough?"

"Well he IS a little weird," she whispered to him so as not to offend the clone standing right next to them. "But I really just wanted to spend some time with my long lost relative."

"I told you I'm busy."

"You can't be that busy every moment of the day! Besides, you can't just drag me from my home, lock me in a dungeon and never speak to me again!" she was exaggerating a little, but she really wanted to spend quality time with someone other than the half-man.

Madara sighed. He knew if the Susanoo found out that he had locked her away somewhere without real human interaction until Sasuke showed up, the god would not be pleased.

"Fine," he said plainly. "I'll work on training you once a week. That is all I can give you, so don't ask for more."

Zuri smiled brightly. "Thank you big brother!"


	4. Preparations Complete

"The Susanoo came to me and told me he isn't pleased with Sasuke," grumbled Madara as soon as Obito returned.

"Well I sure as hell am not gonna marry her," said Obito, getting nervous. He accepted his fate as this old man's caretaker, but he wasn't going to stoop so low.

"Don't jump to conclusions!" said Madara, shaking his head. "Sasuke will be the one. He just... has to be groomed."

"What's wrong with him?" asked Obito, confused.

"First, the Susanoo doesn't like that red-head girl that's following him around. We'll have to get rid of her."

"Think of it as done."

"He also isn't impressed that Sasuke couldn't defeat the eight-tails. The Susanoo isn't sure the boy is strong enough."

Obito sighed. "Sasuke will be strong enough, he just needs time. I'll send him on another mission. He will be my opening show when I walk in on the five kage summit meeting. It will help him to get stronger. Don't worry, I have no doubt that he will eventually request Itachi's eyes, and once he does, I'm sure the Susanoo will be plenty impressed with him."

"And the red-head?"

"I told you, I'll take care of it."

They both nodded to each other as Obito disappeared from the room.

…

"Hold up your fists more," Madara commanded Zuri. He had been meeting with the girl for a couple of times now, and she was actually beginning to master taijutsu.

"Like this?" she asked before she took a swing at his face. It would have landed had Madara not flickered out of the way seconds before the shot landed. He appeared behind her.

"That was good, but don't leave your back open to an attack," he said to her before retiring. "You did well, lets call it a day."

"Ok," she sighed heavily.

Madara smiled as the young girl collapsed on the floor. Even though he had only promised her training sessions once a week, he was finding himself meeting with her much more than that. More and more lately, even, he had been coming up with excuses to go check up on her. He tried to tell himself it was because she was clumsy and he had to keep up with her for the Susanoo's peace of mind. But secretly it was because she was a lot more interesting to spend time with than Obito. But the boy had been nothing but a little shit to him since day one. Granted, some days he found his attitude to be amusing, but most of the time lately their frequent meetings have been less than pleasant. Madara understood. War brings darkness. And although Madara wasn't looking for a best friend either, it was nice to have a disciple who looked up to you.

And Madara's first impression of this girl had indeed been wrong. If there was one thing Madara admired in a shinobi more than power, it was potential, and this girl had it. Zuri was eager to learn, and had an easy time with anything Madara threw at her. Even outside of the zone of training her coordination and balance had improved greatly with her new taijutsu skills, and mentally she seemed even more competent. She asked him nonstop questions about everything, from his life to the the shinobi world, the wars, the clans, and anything else she could think of to ask. But over time, as she began to build up her general knowledge, she began to ask not so stupid questions, and she retained all of the information he gave her. Not only that, but she began to read his mood. She knew if he was getting annoyed and would back down from the questioning and switch to talking about her life. At that point Madara would zone out.

...

"Can I ask you a question?" Madara asked Zuri one day in the middle of one of her rants about something or other. It was in the evening and Madara had decided to eat his dinner with her in her chamber.

The girl looked taken aback. Generally her older brother didn't initiate conversations. "Umm, yeah, sure," she said, so excited that she had forgotten all about the next point she was going to say about the proper way of making apple juice.

"If you are living all by yourself in a little hut with no human interaction, than why were those shinobi trying to kill you the first day I met you in the woods?"

Zuri blinked. She was never very good at telling the passage of time, but she must have at least been in her big brother's hideout for a few weeks. And now was when he finally became curious enough to ask. But she wasn't complaining.

"I was out picking some berries just a few days before we met and I found some shinobi riffling through my things when I got back. I was so nervous, I didn't know what to do. I told them to stop, and when they turned on me, I blacked out." Madara knodded and understood this to mean the Susanoo took over. "When I woke up I couldn't find them anywhere, but Susanoo warned me that they would probably send reinforcements to investigate what happened. That's what I'm guessing those shinobi were."

For some reason he couldn't explain, Madara felt enraged by this story. What kind of shinobi would attack a girl on her own in the forest? He was glad the Susanoo killed them then. Scum like that wouldn't be resurrected in his perfect world. Calming down, he asked, "I was wondering for a while now, how did it come to pass that you activated your sharingan?"

The little long haired teen didn't know quite how to take all of the questions, but she decided to just roll with it for now. "When I was little, about a year before my dad died, we were in the forest trapping and a bear came out and attacked us. My dad was frail and couldn't do anything, I was so afraid! That was when my sharingan appeared. I didn't quite know what was going on, but I was able to get us both out of there safely. My dad never activated his sharingan, but he told me something about a curse, and that I should never use it again except for emergencies. When he died, my sharingan... changed. That was the first time I blacked out and the first time I met Susanoo."

Madara understood she was talking about the mangekyou sharingan. It surprised him enough that this girl was able to awaken her sharingan let alone the mangekyou in her state. But perhaps this was the Susanoo's doing.

"The reason I ask is because we are going to start ninjutsu training tomorrow and you'll need your sharingan for that."

"And the reason you asked about those shinobi?"

"I was just curious."

...

"When am I gonna get to do something exciting?" Zuri asked her big brother.

"Are you saying that learning secret Uchiha jutsu techniques isn't exciting?" asked Madara, wondering how she could be bored.

"No, this training and stuff is fine, but I want to test it all out... You should take me with you on one of your missions!"

Madara rolled his eyes. "Maybe one day when you are strong enough," he lied. "Now ready your sharingan again and watch my hand-signs."

Zuri pouted, but did as she was told. "One day I'll be as strong as you big brother," she told him, which made him smile. There was less ambition in her tone, and more admiration. The girl definitely adored him for some reason, and Madara, although he would never admit it, liked her too. There was something about her that was different from all the other Uchiha, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. _Perhaps it's that she is a genuinely kind and happy person_, he thought fleetingly. No, surely other Uchiha were kind. But not like her. Perhaps it was because she grew up without the pain of the shinobi world. Perhaps her father didn't actually do her a disservice by raising her away from it all. _Ignorance is bliss_, he supposed. But her bliss was contagious.

...

Preparations for the war were almost complete for the eye of the moon plan. The Zetsu clone's were done. Sasuke was back, recovering from his eye transplant. The red-head was taken care of. Now Kabuto was just waiting for Madara to come to him to be experimented on. All things were going as planned.

Madara appeared beside Obito in his cellar.

"Everything still running smoothly?" Madara asked.

"Of course!"

"Then explain the plan to me again."

Obito rolled his eyes. "You are going to leave for Kabuto's. The deal I struck with him was that he would reanimate you, and if we provided him with enough cells for his experiments, he promised to improve you. We kept our side of the bargain, now it is his turn to keep his. During the time I'm waiting before I go to fight, I'll be watching over Zuri and Sasuke. Then I'll rush out to the war zone at the specified time with the ten tail husk where you'll be reanimated with me. I'm not stupid, I can follow a simple plan ya know."

Madara ignored his sass and thought of something. "How exactly are you going to get Zuri and Sasuke to get together?"

Scratching his head, Obito said. "Hn, I guess I haven't thought of that... I think I was just gonna, you know, lock them in a cell together for the time being... or something..."

Madara face-palmed. "And you expect them to fall in love sometime during that?"

"Being in bad situations sometimes brings people together..." said Obito, trying to redeem himself.

"No, we have to think of a better plan."

"We could... send them on a mission together?"

"No Obito, that..." Madara trailed off, thinking more. "That actually might not be that bad of an idea. We could send Sasuke and Zuri off on separate, 'wild-goose chase' missions to the same location. They would meet each other on the way and the shock from meeting another Uchiha would definitely keep them together. They will wander around the forest together in search of their non-existent mission, and I'll have a Zetsu following after them to kindle romance and to report back to me while I'm away. The best part is Zuri won't even realize that I've been gone as she'll be too busy trying to prove herself on this mission.

Obito smiled to himself and said "Yeah, that's all what I thought too."

Madara rolled his eyes at him. "Is Sasuke almost recovered?"

"Yes he should be ready and itching to try out his new eyes by morning."

"Perfect. Make up some sort of mission for him, I don't care what it is, just make sure he ends up in the land of rice paddies. I'll do the same for Zuri and send her out in the morning."

"Sounds good," Obito said, smiling still under his mask.

…

Zuri was laying on her bed, starring at the dank ceiling, wondering what it was like outside. She didn't mind being with her over-protective brother, but it was nice being on her own too. She was so used to living outside, with the forest as her back yard, and she kind of missed it all. Flipping over on her side to face the far wall, she realized that Zetsu was standing there, watching her.

_Ick_, she thought. Her brother hadn't made an appearance in a few days now, but had sent Zetsu many times to check in on her. Sometimes he would pop out of the ground at the most inconvenient times.

Placing an apple on her bedside table, Zetsu said, "Here, you kept talking about these in your sleep, so I thought I'd go find you one."

Zuri smiled. As creepy as the guy was, he really was nice deep down inside. "Thanks," she mumbled. "Would you like some?" she asked, sitting up and holding the green fruit out to him.

"No," he said, laughing. "I'm not like you, I don't need to eat. Or poop for that matter."

There he goes again, talking about poop.

When he left, Zuri decided to do it. She stepped out into the middle of the floor. She had enough of being alone. Sitting down cross legged, she closed her eyes, and all went black.

"Zuri, what's wrong," asked the Susanoo, wide eyed and perplexed, from somewhere inside of her subconscious.

Immediately happiness flooded her and she wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed. "I've missed you so much," she whispered.

Susanoo's face lightened up as he realized that his human wasn't in danger. "I've missed you too Zuri, but what is going on?"

"Well, I just got lonely and I wanted someone to talk to..." she said, realizing how stupid she sounded, but not knowing how else to explain it.

"I'm a god, Zuri. You can't just summon me to hang out with you! Don't you know how busy I am?"

She tried hard to stop the tears from flowing. "But everyone's always busy! Nobody ever has time for me. I feel like a pet that you and Madara check-in on every once in a while to make sure I'm not dying, and then lock me back up again when you are done with me. I'm not an animal, you know! I'm a human and I can do things! Madara has been teaching me taijutsu and ninjutsu and I'm really good at it," she finished her rant panting, not able to hold her tears back. She wanted to show them all how useful she was. That she could take care of herself and didn't need to be trapped in a cellar for her own protection.

Susanoo came and placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up at him. "I know you aren't happy about this, but you know that Madara and I are only looking out for your best interest. I'm not too pleased about you being locked in here all by yourself either to tell you the truth. But if Madara says that this is best, then I'm going to have to take his side if he says it is for your safety," Susanoo said, trying to cheer her up without flat out saying that there was a war going to start soon. The god had known Zuri for longer than Madara and had developed a soft spot for her, to the point that even though he would catch hell for leaving the spirit world just to visit with the girl, he didn't mind so much.

"I have to leave now, but I promise you that things won't always be like this," he told her gently. Leaning forward to whisper something in her ear, he hugged her one last time before departing.

Immediately conciousness awakened within her and she gasped for breath. Even thought it used up so much of her chakra to summon him and the effects on her body were awful, she felt happier that she got to at least say a few words with the one she looked up to as a father.


	5. Encounter with Sasuke Uchiha!

Madara stepped into Zuri's chambers and announced himself, startling the poor, sleeping girl.

"Who-what?" Zuri mumbled, pulling her aching body out of bed. She wanted to make sure she was keeping on top of her training for when Madara began to teach her genjutsu, and now her body was feeling the effects.

"You've been training for a while now," began the older Uchiha. "It's time to test out your new skills with a mission. Besides, you look like you could use some fresh air."

Zuri placed her hands on her hips. If she looked anything less than fresh it was because Madara failed to provide her with a proper shower. Before she could open up her mouth however, he proceeded to explain her task.

"Your goal for this mission is to retrieve a rare plant. It's leaves are translucent and the stems are a purple-grey and it can only be found in the Land of Rice Paddies. Since it is rare it is also very valuable, and where there are valuable things there are bandits, so beware. Do you think that you are competent enough to handle this mission?"

Bowing low, she responded affirmatively.

"I'll be leaving you with a map then," he said, handing her the scroll. "And make sure that no matter who you meet on this mission, you don't give out _any_ information about me or this hideout. Period. The door will be unlocked in the morning. Zetsu will see you out. Do not fail this mission," he ended abruptly before turning to leave.

"Wait!" she said loudly, realization setting in. "Are you for real? I-I don't..." she trailed off.

"_I _trust in your abilities to do this. _You_ have to trust in yourself, you are an Uchiha after all!"

"Right, I just... I've missed you," she stated, trying not to sound too pathetic.

Madara raised an eyebrow at her as an interesting feeling came over him. _I missed you too,_ he thought, but only nodded to her as he exited the room.

_Could this be real life?_ Zuri thought to herself. _Could my big brother really be trusting me with a mission like this? It doesn't matter, no matter what, I can't fail! I'll show him how great of an Uchiha I am! _She might have been naïve, but she was smart enough to realize that Madara didn't think that she was a very good shinobi. A mission like this was exactly what she needed to prove herself. Or so she thought.

…

As soon as the sun rose Zuri was up and ready to go. She had packed her small bag with the simple things she might need, like food and a first aid kit, and she tied the scroll tightly to her right thigh. Things were as her big brother had said; the doors were unlocked, and the man-thing greeting her in the hallway was none other than Zetsu.

"Oh, good morning," she said sheepishly. She was actually hoping that Zetsu would forget.

"Don't worry," said the clone, as if reading her mind, leading her down the winding corridors. "I'm just showing you to the exit, then you won't see me again."

When they got to the portal, Zuri was so excited to see the actual sunlight, that she ran out ahead and pushed through the opening. At first it was blinding, but the hot rays soon felt warm on her skin, and she felt at home again. She missed being outside. The outdoors had been her home for so long. Not that she would complain however. She would much rather see her big brother every once in a while in a dark cellar than be all alone again in an open forest filled with sunlight. It was slightly embarrassing for her how attached she had become to Madara over the past weeks – or was it months? - but being alone for so long during her childhood had made her desperate for friendship.

"Thank you so much Zetsu!" she began, but when she turned around to face him, he was gone. "Hn," she said to herself before shaking it off, and taking her first step out to her new mission.

…

Leaving the compound, Sasuke ran his fingers through his hair, letting the smells of the forest surround him. He could hear birds, crickets, and a crick flowing nearby.

"You can remove them now," said the familiar voice behind him, cooly.

Smiling, Sasuke reached up to his temples and pulled off the bandages. Looking around, he quickly got his bearings.

"Aren't you ready to try them out?" said the voice again.

Sasuke smiled and turned to face the man in the orange mask. "Oh Madara, I've been dreaming of nothing more."

Smiling beneath the mask, Obito handed him a scroll. "Take this first mission then as a test, to make sure everything is working properly with those new eyes of yours."

Sticking his nose up, Sasuke quickly opened up the scroll and then handed it back to him. "This is child's play. I don't want to be sent on some errand."

"It isn't some errand. It needs to be done," Obito lied. "You'll find the hideout just to the north of the Land of Rice Paddies. Retrieve the box, shut down the hide out and your debt to me will be counted as cleared."

Sasuke sighed, but decided to consent. The mission sounded simple enough, and then he could promptly get back to what he really desired. He took the scroll back from the man he thought was Madara, and he went off into the forest.

…

Zuri stumbled out onto the first clearing she found with running water and jumped in, scrubbing off all of the grime that had accumulated on her skin from her time spent in the dungeons. Drying off, she looked up and saw a person staring at her.

"Eww!" she screamed, trying to hide herself although she was fully clothed. "You pervert! How long have you been standing there?"

The boy looked startled and then annoyed. "I'm not a pervert. I just showed up here." Sasuke glanced over the girl and was too shocked to say anything more. _This girl can't be... she can't be..._

"Well don't just stand there! Come over here and apologize!" she growled, placing a hand on her hip and beckoning him toward her.

There was an uncanny resemblance of her to Sasuke's mom, and also being interested in seeing if she was actually an... he just had to know, and so he came forward. Glancing at her face he realized that she _did_ look strangely like an Uchiha. It's not possible...

The girl frowned and shook her head, shaking her long, wet, dark hair around too. "I'm waiting," she said to him.

"I don't have to apologize because I didn't do anything wrong," Sasuke answered plainly. "Who are you? What village are you from?"

"You can't just ask people that! Are you a stalker too?" Zuri picked up her backpack and began to leave, but then the boy stopped her.

"Wait, I'm sorry you are upset, but you just... Look familiar," he said.

Zuri realized that this wasn't a proper apology, but she decided that it was good enough. "I can tell you that you probably don't know me. At least, I'm sure I've never met you before. I'm kind of a loner."

Sasuke sighed. His mind must be playing games on him. There was no way she could be an Uchiha. "I'm sorry to bother you."

But before he could leave, he sensed something moving in the not too distant bushes.

"There is danger here. Are you a shinobi?" he whispered to her.

"Danger? I – uh – yeah, I'm a _really_ good shinobi, too," she said, smirking.

"Ready yourself then," he said, smirking back at the fool girl as a large grizzly bear walked by.

Having flashbacks of the time her father almost died, the sharingan swirled in her eye almost automatically as her whole body tensed up.

_No freaking way_, thought Sasuke. He couldn't believe it. Forgetting about the bear, he turned around and stared at her, jaw dropped, as she did that all too familiar Uchiha fire-ball jutsu. Too bad the bear wasn't too pleased with being scorched. Before the bear could reach them, Sasuke grabbed the girl and took them far away to safety.

"Who are you? How the hell did you get those eyes?" he yelled, whirling on her and pointing at her accusingly.

"What-what are you talking about?" she asked hesitantly. "I-I was born with these."

"Who are you?" he demanded.

"I should ask who you are!" she said, trying to stick up for herself, not knowing why this boy was acting so crazy all of a sudden.

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha! So you better freaking tell me where you got those eyes!" he said, shaking with anger.

Realizing that she was still standing in the clearing the boy took her to, she sat down, processing slowly. "You're... an Uchiha... I – I thought the only one left was Madara and myself."

"How the hell do you know Madara?" Sasuke asked, reaching his limits.

Sasuke's reaction made Zuri hesitate. _Shoot_, she thought, recalling Madara's words. _I wasn't supposed to give out any information._

"Of course I know him, he-he's my big brother," she said, carefully choosing her words.

It was Sasuke's turn to process. So he was apparently staring at Madara's little sister? What more hadn't that masked man told him? _Damn him._ He looked at her, raising an eyebrow. If it was _his_ sister, she would no doubt be a formidable opponent.

"I-I'm Zuri Uchiha," she said, bowing her head respectfully. "How do you know my big brother?"

"Oh you know, he kidnapped me once. It was great," he responded sarcastically, deciding to sit down across from her.

"He likes to do that, doesn't he?" she smiled, reflecting on her own encounter with him.

"Madara never told me about you, damn it! Why would he keep something like this from me?" the boy was angry.

Zuri thought about how to respond, but didn't know how. "I-I don't know. But the next time I see him I'll make sure to ask."

"You don't have to do that. I'm going to find him and talk to him myself."

"Please don't be too mad at my big brother. He can be a little bit prickly, but he's kind deep, down inside. I'm sure he has a great reason why he didn't tell you," she offered, but to no avail. He only looked coldly up at the clouds.

"How are you still alive?" he finally asked. "How did you survive the massacre?"

Zuri blinked. "I grew up all alone with my father in some caves a few days journey from here. I can assure you that I have no idea what you are talking about. What massacre?"

"My brother Itachi Uchiha killed our entire clan."

"Oh, I... that's terrible."

"He was forced to do it by his own village. I'm going to avenge him."

"Oh... ok," she said awkwardly, not knowing how else to respond. The shinobi world was indeed tough.

"So why are you out here in the middle of nowhere?"

"I'm just... looking for a flower," she said blushing, realizing how stupid that must sound.

"Are you... a gardner?"

"No, I – I mean kind of. I'm just looking for this really cool plant right now so that I can impress my big brother. It's only found by the Land of the Rice Paddies.

"I'm going that way anyway. Would you like to accompany me?" normally Sasuke wouldn't do something like this, but he doesn't normally meet another Uchiha everyday either.

"Yeah, definitely!" Zuri responded. If there was going to be more danger, she would want someone like him around. "Hey, and maybe on the way you could show me some new jutsu?"

"New jutsu? Sure, and you can show me some as well," he asked curiously. Perhaps Madara showed her something impressive he could learn as well, like that disappearing trick.

"Oh, I just, I'm kind of new at this so I don't know much jutsu. My big brother has been teaching me a lot, but I still only know a few things."

Sasuke starred at her, unimpressed. Perhaps he wouldn't be learning any of Madara's secrets after all. Unless she was covering for him.

"I guess I can teach you a few things then," he said flatly as she squealed with joy.

"Thank you sensei!" she said bowing respectfully.

"Don't call me that," he grumbled as he got up to start back on their journey.

"But you'll kind of be my sensei right? Because you'll be teaching me new things?"

"Maybe."


	6. Failed Missions

After traveling with Zuri for the last few days, Sasuke was officially annoyed with her. Sometimes she managed to impress him, like how fast she seemed to master genjutsu, even with the minimal amount of help he gave. Ultimately however, she talked too much and got on his nerves often. The only reason Sasuke decided to not leave her behind yet was because he felt some sort of odd familiarity with her. He killed Itachi, and he might end up having to kill Madara, but there was some part of him that made him not want to be the last of his clan. And even though this girl would never be able to feel or understand his pain, there was a part of him that thought she understood him more than anyone else – if only it was because she _was_ an Uchiha.

"Hey sensei! Wait up!" Zuri called to him when he got too far ahead of her. But if she somehow managed to die along the way he wouldn't mourn for long.

"I don't have to wait for you much longer. Look," he pointed up ahead. "The village you are looking for is there."

Panting, Zuri came up the side of the hill and peered through the trees. "Oh wow, there it is!" she pushed her long black hair out of her face to look more clearly. "We are finally here!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. He had never met someone who got so easily excited about trivial things.

They began to walk along a traveler's path, and when they were just a few meters from the entrance of the village, Zuri's demeanor shifted dramatically. She began to run to the sides of the trail, examining something on the ground, before shaking her head and running to the opposite side, again looking at the ground..

"What are you doing?" he asked her, annoyed but curious after a few seconds of her odd behavior.

"Sensei, tell me, do you think this flower looks special?"

Sasuke examined the flower she held up, expecting something extraordinary to happen. When it didn't, he rolled his eyes. "No, it's just a weed. They turn a translucent purple-grey color in this land due to some sort of agent in the soil." He ignored her strange mannerisms and kept walking.

"But, my big brother told me that this plant was supposed to be rare," Zuri said out loud, crestfallen.

"It looks like he lied to you. Join the club."

"He would never lie to me... there must be some mistake. Maybe there is a different flower here with the same profile," she wondered, but a quick look around the weed-filled path told her that wasn't true. "I don't know what to do."

Sasuke felt something like pity towards the girl and her crumpled spirits.

"Look, just bring a couple of them with you and we'll head back now so we can both talk to Madara. Just like there is no rare flower, I have a feeling there is no compound or parcel for me to get either. Let's stop by an inn in the village and we'll head out in the morning."

Zuri nodded and followed, still downcast.

**...**

She laid her head to rest on her pillow and was about to curl up and fall asleep when she saw shadows move past their window.

"Sasuke," she whispered, but he was already awake and by her side.

"I know," was all he could say before the windows came crashing in and five dark figures emerged, wearing what looked like animal masks.

"What's going on?" Zuri asked nervously, scrambling to get out of the way, but Sasuke was too busy fighting the figures to respond. She could hardly see anything but dark shadows bumbling about and knocking things around – crashing into tables and chairs, walls and doors. And then the shinobi began using justsu, sending streams of water, wind and fire all around. The inn keeper would not be happy with them. All Zuri could do was sit in awe, watching what a real high-level shinobi fight looked like. Would she ever be on that level?

"Zuri! Get behind me!" Sasuke shouted to her once his Mangekyo Sharingan was activated. Immediately the room was filled with purple chakra. Zuri did what she was told, but was caught off guard by the familiar presence.

"Susanoo?" she whispered to herself as the charged air around her began to take on a similar shape to her old childhood friend. She had never seen him outside of her own mind before, and was surprised by how large he was and how impressive all his movements were, as he broke the floors and ceiling to try and get to the five enemy shinobi.. Was this destructive Susanoo the same Susanoo who she had thought of as her father? Upon further examination of the chakra, she sensed something different. Something darker. It was mixed with Sasuke's. Zuri didn't fully understand what was going on, but she realized that the Susanoo before her wasn't the exact same. It was her Susanoo's chakra alright, but his will was absent. Strange.

But unfortunately for her, she spent a little too much time examining and too little time dodging the fighting shinobi, and ended up getting hit on the head with a large object as she fell through the floors and passed out.

"Damn it," muttered Sasuke under his breath as he saw Zuri fall. But then he second guessed himself. He would no longer have to deal with her – the heavens only knew how much faster this mission would have been if she had not been around. _Maybe I'll meet you in the future Zuri Uchiha,_ he thought before exiting the inn, still surrounded by his Susanoo shield. He left the Leaf shinobi alive – they weren't important enough to kill. And he had other more stressing matters to attend to. Like finding Madara Uchiha.

**Meanwhile, on the battlefield...**

Madara was having fun. That damn Kabuto seemed to have gone behind their backs and messed up their original plans for where and when he was supposed to be renanimated. But he'll pay later. For now, he was too excited about trying out his new powers. Not only had he the power of the god Susanoo, but he also had Hashirama's cells inside him. He felt nothing short of invincible.

Then, just as things were going along so well, suddenly Madara lost control of his body, and he was sent spiraling along down into the depths of his subconscious.

"Madara!" shouted an all too familiar voice. In front of him was the pale green god Susanoo. "Do you know where Zuri is right now?" he couldn't help but pick up the anger in his voice. Madara kept it cool.

"Sure I do. I have Zetsu tailing her and Sasuke right now."

"So it should come to no surprise to you that Zuri is currently in a prison cell in the Hidden Leaf after Sasuke had abandoned her?" the god yelled furiously.

"Damn it," he grumbled out loud. What the hell did those two get into?

"I saw the whole thing when Sasuke activated his Susanoo cloak. Apparently some Anbu were tailing Sasuke and then ambushed them, and when things got rough he left her there to be captured. I knew that guy wasn't a proper mate for her."

"Don't worry about it, I've got it under control."

"Under control?! I gave you one mission for this ultimatum of yours, and now she is sitting, captured in enemy territory, and you call that 'under control'?! The Leaf has already detected the clones in her and killed them off, and if Zuri remains unconscious and doesn't summon me I have no way of telling how she is doing either! Is that 'under control'?"

"Relax Susanoo, I'll leave here and retrieve her immediately."

"I'm coming with you!"

"...Fine."


End file.
